Murdoch Mysteries - The Murdoch Identity, S03E01

The premiere of Season 3 of Murdoch Mysteries, though it's likely that most people missed it because they were watching the Olympics or because they simply had not heard it was starting up again, was bloody fantastic.

It started with Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) in Bristol, England, running through the streets wearing no coat and no hat, looking very low class, being chased by two gunman in proper attire. And it turned out that Murdoch had completely lost his memory.

Back in Canada, Crabtree (Jonny Harris) and Inspector Brackenreid (Thomas Craig) are trying to find their detective, who has been missing without word for a week, while Dr. Julia Ogden (Helene Joy) can only feel the pain of missing him. Her lovely little recap of memories of all the moments they have spent together demonstrated perfectly her feelings for him.

With the help of a detective from another division, Crabtree followed the clues, made the decisions, and proved that he is second to Murdoch in talent because he follows the clues so easily discovered by modern methods. The constabulary would not be the same with a different detective, and as crazy and Murdoch might originally have seemed to Brackenreid and Crabtree, they would not replace him for the world.

I also loved that Brackenreid beat up a suspect who was withholding information that might lead to Murdoch's whereabouts. Not only did the delight Brackenreid took in the act show his affection for Murdoch, but these were the sort of police tactics that were acceptable at the turn of the last century and historical shows should play around with historical possibilities.

In England, though some moments seemed a little contrived, such as Murdoch being rescued by Anna (Lisa Faulkner), the use of flashbacks to show Murdoch slowly regaining his memory gave us the exact right amount of detail to understand his head space. And though, again, I lament that Murdoch gave up a good Catholic girl for Julia, when he returned to her, I could not doubt the affection that they felt for one another. As long as I ignore some of the problems from last season, I can quite happily watch their relationship develop.

Did you get to see the premiere? Were you pleased with it? Are you afraid the episode set a high standard for the rest of the season that the show might not fulfill?